Test cricket is a beautiful, beautiful game and the third day's play between England and India at Lords showed us why. It was not to be the day that Sachin Tendulkar scored his 100th international century, but there was so much more going on in front of a crowd that was the envy of cricket fans the world over.

England ended the day in the ascendancy after dismissing India for 286 just before the close. They then survived a tricky 15 minute spell with the bat to reach 5-0 in their second innings and lead by 193 overall.

It is difficult to know where to start in assessing the day's play. It all started with Chris Tremlett bowling short and aggressively to India's openers as England looked to set the tone.

Abhinav Mukund in particular was the victim of short of a length bowling and it appeared to be a deliberate ploy from England to get the young Indian opener on the back foot.

The real productivity began when Stuart Broad was thrown the ball though. Following his duck in the first innings with the bat, there were many 'should have picked Tim Bresnan' comments doing the rounds and this was Broad's chance to stand up and be counted. Boy did he do just that. Bowling full and fast, he got the better of Gautam Gambhir to get England going and followed this up with a delivery that forced the aggressive Mukund to drag onto his stumps.

This brought the man everybody wanted to see to the crease - Mr Tendulkar. Now, he may not have got to what would been a famous century, but he played a significant role in a tremendous spell of test cricket.

India's No.4 joined his old pal Rahul Dravid at the crease and either side of lunch there was a fascinating duel between bat and ball. The pitch was good for batting, but there was something in it for England's impressive pace attack and it made for sensational viewing.

It wasn't to be Tendulkar's day though. Clearly not reading the script, Broad returned to claim his third wicket of the day, dismissing Sachin for 34. It wasn't even his highest score at Lords and there was a universal sigh of disappointment.

England were jubilant though and they knew this was an opportunity to take the game by the scruff of the neck. Broad was the main man for them as he showed signs of his 2009 Ashes form in search of the fourth Indian wicket. He came close twice in one over as VVS Laxman and Dravid were put down by Graeme Swann and Andrew Strauss respectively. Dravid then calmly went to his half-century and England began to worry that they had missed a game changing opportunity.

Broad continued to bowl beautifully in tandem with Swann though and the pressure created by these two gave the returning Tremlett the chance to stamp his authority on proceedings.

The 6ft 7in paceman got the better of Laxman and England were on the charge. Swann got the reward for an intelligent, creative spell with the wicket of Suresh Raina for 0 and it was beginning to look like Dravid or bust for the Indians.

Following a productive spell for the hosts, India weathered the storm with Dravid and MS Dhoni calming things down with a valuable partnership reminiscent to that of Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott in England's innings.

Quite simply, with Trott bowling with a soft ball, everyone was waiting for the new ball. It would perhaps be the deciding factor in how the last two days would shape up.

There were suggestions that Broad would get the nod when the new cherry was eventually taken, but Tremlett kept his position of authority and it turned out to be a good decision from Strauss. The Surrey seamer dismissed captain Dhoni and Harbajhan Singh in quick succession.

India were now seven down with avoiding the follow-on suddenly emerging as their main concern. They did this thanks to the ever reliable Dravid and a cameo knock from Praveen Kumar, but another wicket for Broad and two late ones from Anderson meant the tourists were dismissed for 284.

Dravid deserved the ovation he received as he walked off at the end of the innings after scoring an unbeaten 103. With Zaheer Khan off the field still, India then showed little sign of claiming an England wicket in a short spell before time was called on an excellent days play.

Tomorrow is going to be another interesting one. England will be aggressive and look to get themselves into an unassailable lead before allowing around four sessions to bowl out India.

Tendulkar will of course get another chance to record his 100th century at some stage and it seems increasingly likely that if he does, it will have to be a match saving one.